It started with the fashion at the award show: women (and men) wearing all-black in solidarity with anyone who came forward with sexual harassment and assault allegations in Hollywood and elsewhere. But, it more importantly, continued with the pre-show interviews, in which actors didn't just talk about who they were wearing, but also got a chance to speak thoughtfully about the real changes Hollywood needs to make after last year's sexual misconduct revelations. Meryl Streep, walking the red carpet with activist Ai-jen Poo, who organizes immigrant worker women and is the director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, sounded optimistic about how awareness of the problem will lead to real change.

While the red carpet has usually been the place for pithy conversation, this year was different. The New York Times even pivoted in the way they were going to cover this year's red carpet, telling readers in a memo days before the awards that they would be changing focus in this post-Weinstein world by sending Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Damon Winter to cover the pre-show. Investigative reporter Jodi Kantor, who co-wrote the Weinstein report, will also contribute to the red carpet coverage.

As Choire Sicha, the New York Times Styles section's new editor, explained:

"The red carpet is where huge, powerful industries — celebrity, fashion, Hollywood, media, beauty, publicity — meet. Now that the curtain is finally being lifted on some of the grimy underbelly of Hollywood, we feel it’s more important than ever to not treat awards shows as silly things for silly people."

In 2018, the red carpet got serious, and it was a seriously good thing to see. Here's what attendees had to say about the changes:

1Debra Messing

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When Debra Messing stopped to speak with E!'s Giuliana Rancic she talked about why she wore black. "For the brave whistleblowers" she said, adding she was ready to "stand in solidarity with my sisters all over the globe." And to make her point even clearer she simply said "Time is up" and it's time for "diversity, intersectional gender parity, and equal pay."

Messing also called out E! and the recent departure of Catt Sadler. "I was so shocked to hear that E! doesn't believe in paying their female co-hosts the same as their male co-hosts," she said. "I miss Catt Sadler." She then added, "Women are just as valuable as men."

Sadler claimed she found out she was being paid less than her male co-host Jason Kennedy and asked for a raise. When E! allegedly didn't give her what she wanted, she decided to leave the network. Last month Sadler tweeted: "It’s true. Today will be my last day on #DailyPop and @enews. I hope you’ll tune in so I can thank you for the memories. I love you guys SO much it hurts."

E! released the following statement to Us Weekly about the situation: “E! compensates employees fairly and appropriately based on their roles, regardless of gender. We appreciate Catt Sadler’s many contributions at E! News and wish her all the best following her decision to leave the network."

2Meryl Streep

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Streep talked about the widespread abuse across Hollywood and the rest of the world saying that people are "more aware" of the power imbalance. "It's something that leads to abuse in our own industry," she said.

"It's everywhere," she said. "We want to fix that, we feel sort of emboldened to stand together in a thick black line separating then from now."

3Michelle Williams

When Michelle Williams showed up with Tarana Burke, the founder of the #MeToo movement, she had tears in her eyes. She told E!'s Ryan Seacrest it was because it was such an honor to be there with her.

"We're here," she told him. "You know why we're here? We're here because of Tarana." Not because of her nomination for All The Money In The World (Claire Simpson: film editing), "We're here because she started a movement." That would be the #MeToo movement, which Burke started 10 years ago to help victims of sexual abuse, but got a boost when Alyssa Milano shared the hashtag #MeToo on Twitter.

"It's deeply humbling," Burke said. "This is something I started out of necessity, something my community needed and it's grown over the years, but I could have never have envisioned it growing like this."

But, it was Williams who said Burke is the reason she has hope for her daughter, who she thought she was going to have to raise to "learn how to protect herself in a dangerous world." She said, "I think because of the work Tarana has done and the work I'm learning how to do, we have the opportunity to hand our children a different world. I am moved beyond measure to be next to this women."

4Emma Watson

Emma Watson came to the awards with Marai Larasi, the executive director of Imkaan, "a British network of organizations working to end violence against black and minority women," according to The New York Times. "If we are to end violence against women and girls," Watson said, "we need to create seismic shifts across our social norms.”

Watson then turned most of the red carpet conversation to her date. "There is a wall of silence when it comes violence around women and girls," Larasi said. "Every time people speak out it puts a crack in that wall."

Larasi made the case that having Hollywood women speak out gives an "opportunity to amplify the issues and shine a light on things. It's not the beginning or the end of the struggle, it's a critical moment."

5Laura Dern

Laura Dern came to the 2018 Golden Globes with Mónica Ramírez, who fights sexual violence against farmworkers. It was her letter of solidarity in Timefrom women farmworkers to women in Hollywood that inspired Dern to reach out to her.

Being that female farmworkers have a "long history of combatting violence," Ramírez told E!, that "our members felt very strongly, not alone, we stand with them, we lend them our power and our strength as they move this difficult time."

Ramírez and her fellow farmers have also been fighting for gender equality and parity. "Every person's voice will be valued and everyone will have the opportunity to reach their full potential," she said. Dern agreed, saying, "We need the powers that be, all the networks, including E! to help us with closing this pay gender gap."

6Ava DuVernay

While on the red carpet, Ava DuVernay talked about why she wore black to the Globes. "It's standing side-by-side with other like-minded people who believe in justice and dignity for all," she said. "It's that simple."

It's not the solution to the problem of sexual harassment or assault, she said, but it's important for Hollywood to use its spotlight to "turn that light on an issue that's larger than patting ourselves on the back. And so I'm with it."

7Eva Longoria

Eva Longoria, who just announced she's pregnant with her first child, was there to slay. Basically, she came, she saw, and she conquered the Golden Globes red carpet with one spectacular quote. "It's not a moment, it's a movement, so tonight is just one small part of that," she said when NBC's Carson Daly said the Globes were an "exciting moment." Mic drop, Eva out.

8Natalie Portman

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When Natalie Portman showed up on the red carpet she was all about talking about the symbolism of Time's Up. "It's time because time's up," Portman said. "It's time we want our workplaces to reflect the world we're living in and have everyone represented."

9Viola Davis

Viola Davis walked the red carpet to stand in solidarity with "all these women embracing their authentic voices and standing in solidarity with one another." And while she said that a lot of "people feel like Hollywood can be out of touch sometimes, I'm here because I hear the voices for women who say 'me too', and one of them is me."

Davis said she is there to represent for "those people who are nameless, faceless, every day, who don't have a platform to talk about their sexual assault and rape. And I hear those voices."

10Mariah Carey

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When Mariah Carey walked the red carpet, she was celebrating her nomination for Best Song for the title song from the animated film The Star. But, she was also there to remind everyone that this was her first nomination as a songwriter: "People often forget, women write too." You tell them, Mariah.

11Sarah Jessica Parker

Sarah Jessica Parker said the Time's Up movement shows that this is a "conversation that needs to happen across industries. "I know it's affected your network," Parker said to E!'s Ryan Seacrest, but "these are conversations that are timely and exciting."

She continued, "Safe work places shouldn't be controversial."

12Connie Britton

Connie Britton was wearing her opinions on her sleeve — or more accurately, stitched across her chest. She showed up to the red carpet in a black top from Lingua Franca that read "Poverty is sexist" and spoke about the need for fair working conditions.

“My hope is that this movement will now reach the grass roots, the small towns, the villages near and far, where women have been silenced, without resources, in the face of gender disparity," she said on the red carpet. "We are all stronger when we work together with respect and understanding. Strong women equal strong families, economies, and communities. Everywhere. So let's get this show on the road.”

13Tracee Ellis Ross

Tracee Ellis Ross hit the red carpet ready to let people know why #TimesUP was about more than sexual harassment. "Time’s up on a lot of things,” she said, raising a fist in the air.

14Kerry Washington

At no point did Kerry Washington even consider boycotting the Golden Globes. "We shouldn’t have to sit out the night," Washington told Al Roker on the red carpet. "We shouldn’t have to give up our seat at the table because of bad behavior that wasn’t ours. We get to be here to celebrate eachother and to stand in joy and solidarity and say 'we are looking out fo anybody who feels marginalized in the workplace.”

15America Ferrera

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Seeing everyone in black on the red carpet was special for America Ferrera because it was a sign that everyone was working together for something better.

"It's so incredible to look around and see everyone in solidarity, ready to really address the issues that exist in our industry and across all industries," Ferrera said. "It's our job — right now, the time is now — for us to do the work that will make women and all people more safe and more equal in their workplaces and in their lives."

What the women of Hollywood proved at the Golden Globes that Time's Up, but also the time is now to make a change that goes way beyond wearing black to an awards show. It's about showing solidarity for all women who need their voice to be heard.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, call the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 800-656-HOPE (4673) or visit online.rainn.org